[en Espanol]

Hello, I am Jim Fitz. I sensed a call to do full time peacemaking in the Fall of 2002, at which time I left my work managing Plow Creek Fellowship's produce farm.

As a part of that peacemaking, I volunteer three months a year with Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) in Colombia. The presence of CPT gives protection from the threats of the paramilitaries and guerrillas to some eighty families.

Since many of the problems in Colombia originate here with our government policy, I spend the rest of the year working to make people aware of how our 1.6 million dollars a day in US Colombian military aid is making the situation worse.

I promote peace and justice in the following ways:    I give slide presentations, talk to people personally, participate in a weekly vigil, have booths at fairs, line up others to speak, write emails to supporters, and pray regularly. I depend on donations and your prayers to support this peace work.
   
I am available to give talks and slide presentations about my time in Colombia.  Contact me at: jimfitz(at)plowcreek.org   or 815-646-4672. 
Introduction to Peacemaking in Colombia   [en Espanol]

Jim's 2007 Peace Plans and 2006 Report         2007 Budget

Jim's 2008 Letters


Quiet Time  August 10, 2008
Just for kids    May 5, 2008
Farmers of Garzal and feeding the hungry         April, 2008
An Army Visit   3-28-08
Land Mines, Cocaine, and the Army    3-24-08
Spreading Peace in Taxis    3/19/08
Unexpected Answers to Prayer   3-4-08
The Repairman's Mother In-law    2-28-08
Good Friends   Feb 22
Back in Colombia   Feb 14
Peace Farmer  Lasalle NewsTribune article
Ex-Farmer Planting Seeds of Peace  Peoria Journal Star Article, January 20
Off to Colombia  January  8
===========================================================================
Jim's 2007 Letters
Jim's 2006 Peace Plans
Jim's 2006 Letters
Jim's 2005 Peace Plans
Jim's 2005 Letters
2004 Letters
Jim's 2004 Peace Plan
2003 Letters
Jim's Letters from CPT team in Colombia 2003

---

 Bits from my 35 year journey to a disciplined quiet time.  8/10/08

Dear Friend,       

“Lord help me do this breathing exercise, meditation exercise, work this reading into my thinking and living, and intercede for these my brothers and sisters.” That is how I begin my quiet time each day. Following are more of my prayers and thoughts. 

“Give the persons I pray for the books, ideas and people to bring wholeness, healing, and health into their body minds, soul and society.”

“God, help me realize I am your servant and not You.”

Prayer is the language of people who are in trouble and know it, and who believe God can get them out.

I have found it helpful to write down prayers, concerns, and people's names to help me remember to pray for them. You are on the list. Often I just read the list, but I sense God still uses it, the effectiveness depends not on me but on God. Other times I sense I touch the people as I pray for them. Another help has been a picture of Jesus to remind me that God is present.

Sometimes I have carried worries for years until one day I realized I should be praying about it. I have struggled with depression for many years, and it was not on my prayer list, till it dawned on me one day. Having the list is a help in keeping my mind from wandering.

My wandering mind is one of my greatest challenges during my quiet time. These  distracting thoughts are like seeing boats on a river and the challenge is to just let them go by and not follow them. Because that is what my mind is so use to doing, it takes lots of practice to retrain it. It is like learning to play basketball, practice, practice, practice… and I am still in the 1st grade practicing stage. But it has been worth the effort for sure as my quiet time has been an instrument of transforming me. At times helpful insights or good things to do come during my quiet time.

I have had relapses for even two months one time and many shorter ones when I forgot to take time to pray. How much time I take is often determined by how distracted I am that day. Often my distraction is some problem relationship or concern in which I have a lot of emotional baggage. Some common distracting thoughts are “This is a waste of time”; “nobody is listening”; “Am I crazy?” But praying and meditating is as important as any work.

The principal effects of meditation are experienced in daily life, not in the periods of meditation itself. My wife can tell when I miss my quiet time. 

Being a peacemaker I pray for my enemies, so I have put some politicians I did not like on my prayer list. I noticed once I did that it helped me view them more as people and less as evil beings. Prayer can change US. Try it. 

One of the most practical helpful books to me on quiet time has been It's a Meaningful Life, it just takes practice, by Bo Lozoff (from the humankindness.org foundation). One of his missions is to teach prayer and meditation in prisons as a way of reducing violence. One of Bo’s suggestions for getting started is to commit yourself to 10 to 30 minutes a day for a month or two. Set your time commitment to be something you can be sure to do. Choose to do something that is meaningful to you. Then do it. And don’t evaluate or change it until your month or two is ended. One of Bo’s quotes is “the Old Testament itself does not say… 'Be obedient and know that I am God' but, 'Be still and know that I am God.'”

The Message Bible by Eugene Peterson really speaks to me, such that I really look forward to getting up in the morning to hear what the Lord has to say to me through it and other books I am reading. The new remix version has the verses designated. His introductions help me understand more clearly the overall purpose of the Bible and each of its books. I find his insights very healthy and understandable. Some examples:

From the introduction: “Jesus is the descent of God into our lives, just as they are, not the ascent of our lives to God, hoping he might approve when he sees how hard we try.” 

Eph 3:20: “God can do anything, you know-- far more that you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deep and gently within us.”

At the PAPA Fest (People Against Poverty and Apathy), which Plow Creek hosted in June, I gave a workshop sharing about my quiet time journey. I was very encouraged by the interest of 40 some people who attended.

Here at our son Andy’s graduation at Knox college. His fiancée is at his right; they are planning a wedding next year. Andy has a job teaching physics and chemistry in Chicago. Lyn and I are on the ends. Here at Old Main in the background Abraham Lincoln first denounced slavery as immoral in a debate with Douglas in 1858. Over 25% of Knox students are international or students of color.  Knox library now includes about 10 of my peace books which I contributed.

Pray for
1 the Lord to speak to us in presentations I will give in the coming months and for help to open venues in which to share about peace making..
2 I need a translator from English to Spanish, I could even pay someone.
 
 Peace, Jim

top

---

Dear Friends,      May 28, 2008   Time to Pray  Letter # 10

I have been sharing the following with people these days.

“Have you heard of the book JFK and the Unspeakable by James Douglas? In it Douglas, a Christian, shows through his in-depth studies that JFK’s assassination and some other political US assassinations were related to these persons being in the process of implementing some important changes.” 

“I sense our country is at a crossroads in our history. And a political assassination could be devastating for the whole world. So I would like to encourage you to say a prayer for the protection of the candidates, and for God’s will to be done in these elections. I think we can with our prayers have a part in shaping history for the better. Ask your friends and church to do the same.”

“It would be so easy to let this just be something we use to make conversation about the election and another thing to feel helpless about. We can influence this situation, contrary to the air around that says we are hopeless to change things. Watch—it might change your feeling of hopelessness. Put it on your daily prayer list. This prayer could change history for the better. Remember, Paul does call us to pray for our government leaders. This is an important time to put that into action.”

Stephanie one of those I shared with answered, “You are right, that is really a great idea. Those of us who pray need to be praying about it, and not just talking about it. I will ask my church to pray for this election.”

The above is similar to a lot of conversations I have been having with people lately. 

Prayer list:

1. That God’s will be done and the Lord protect the candidates in this election.

2. Pray for reconciliation through dialog between the Colombian and Venezuelan governments. Recently they have been heavily at each other with words. And to compound the problem, US drug planes have strayed into Venezuelan territory. We do not need another war. 

3. May the Lord speak at my coming sharing at PAPA (People Against Poverty and Apathy) Fest, 6/19-6/22, and Cornerstone Festival, 7/1-7/5. 

Peace, Jim
Here at Plow Creek, Heather and Paul Munn (3rd and 4th from the left) are starting a spiritual retreat ministry for the poor, people from the city in recovery from homelessness or addictions who cannot afford most retreat places. To their right are some people who are interested in the retreats and may provide referrals from the ministries they work with in Chicago. Boo Graham (not pictured), Rich Foss, and I are part of an advisory committee for the ministry. This picture was taken at the first trial run retreat. I was impressed with the potential for this service.

top

---

Just for kids  Letter # 9     May 5, 2008

 Dear Friend,

 “Today’s presentation is just for kids and if the the adults behave we will let them listen”, thus I began my recent presentation at my home church at Plow Creek.

  “Do you know what a peacebuilders is in your school?” I ask the kids.   They answered. “Sure they give up put downs, they make friends with those who are left out, they try to work things out by talking instead of hitting or fighting.”

 Well, when I go to Colombia for 2- 3 months, I try to be a peacebuilder amongst the people who have been fighting for 45 years there. They are not only fighting with angry words with hands and sticks as you might with your playmates, but they are using even guns which can kill people.

 Here are real bullets and a real gun. In Colombia they talk about the lead (plomo) was flying as a way to say there was a fight. They are talking about the lead here the tips in these bullets. When the trigger is pulled the gun shoots the lead out and it will tear into what ever it hits, and if it hits you here in your heart or head it could kill you.

 When I was little at times we formed clubs or gangs amongst with some of my playmates in which some kids were part of the club and some were out. We did not want the people on the out part of our club.

 That is in some ways similar to what is happening in the Colombian 45 years of civil war. The armed groups of guerrillas, paramilitaries, and Army are in ways like gangs fighting each other only they use real guns which really hurt each other. In Colombia the farmers just want to live in peace with their families. And these armed gangs are fighting for control of the land. Often times the farmers get afraid of being hit by the flying plomo (lead) so that they leave their homes and farms. That is very sad.  We as CPTers go to be with them as a way of keeping them safe.  In the same way when you and your playmate are having a fight when your parents come, you stop fighting, when Colombian gangs are threatening to hurt farmers we go there and that makes them stop.

 When the war began in Colombia about 3% of the wealthy people controlled about 70% of the country.  This is like if you are playing and Timmy has most of the toys for himself and won’t let the others use them. In the same way the poor farmers got to the point they did not have enough land to grow the food they needed for their families. So they formed gangs known as guerrillas to take over some of the land so they could feed their families.

 When this happened the wealthy land owners hired gangs with guns known as paramilitaries to protect their lands from these guerrillas. And then armies of the government became involved in fighting the guerrillas also.
I will now tell you stories where we have had to do that same thing between Colombians with guns. It is amazing how doing that simple thing of being there can keep even adults from hurting one another and make farmers feel safe enough to stay in their homes and farms.

   Just like you are be a peacebuilder when you play with friends, we try to peacebuilder between the people in Colombia and i other places. We each have our role to play to bring peace to the world. It is good to practice being a peacebuilder wherever we are it makes everybody happier.

  I thus held the attention of our grade schoolers here at Plow Creek for some 30 minutes. I have come to sense it is ever more important to share the stories of peacebuilding with our children. This exercise of sharing on kids level has helped me understand in a new way my own calling to be a peacemaker.

  I am looking for groups to share about CPT with, and it can be from grade school on up if you know a group that might be interested let me know.


 Pray I can share in ways that encourage us all to be peacebuilders.

 Peace fill you today,
Jim

top

---

Farmers of Garzal and feeding the hungry         April, 2008    letter #8

Dear Friends,       
 Imagine being told that the home you built, or were born in, or lived in all your life is no longer legally yours and that you must leave. Further imagine that all of your relatives and neighbors are being told the same thing, and that failure to leave will result in death. This is what is happening to the communities of Garzal.

These people are now being pressured by a former owner to abandon their farms.  This former owner, a cocaine producer, is using paramilitaries to threaten them. Their leader, Salvador, who is a Pentecostal pastor and their school teacher, has asked us to accompany them in their struggle to get land titles and resist expulsion from land on which they grow cacao (chocolate), bananas, and yucca.  These crops are their livelihood. 

So, as a way of supporting them, a CPT delegation spent three days in Garzal.  We followed this with a public witness action to raise awareness of the plight of these people. It was finalized with a letter that we signed to the government agency INCODER asking them to grant land titles to these long time residents according to Colombian law. More details on the history and plight of these people can be found at ……http://www.cpt.org/content/colombia-project the dispossessed.

 Please take a moment to pray for the people of Garzal, and write a letter in support of the farmers of Garzal.  There is a sample letter below. 

Here is the Christian Peacemaker Team with the CPT delegation doing a public witness in front of the INCODER offices in Barranca, Colombia. INCODER is the government agency that issues land titles. Left to right, I am the fourth person, and  the 11th   person is my best friend on the team, Pierre.  The 12th  person is Jonathan who heads the feeding program described below. The banner says, “We ask INCODER to provide titles and security to the farmers of Garzal

Jonathan tells about the food program by saying, “We started when someone in our church said, ‘I have $15.00 I want to give to provide food for the hungry displaced people in our city of Bogota.’ Thus started a program for feeding the hungry that has expanded into providing 400 meals every Saturday evening.  These meals go to homeless people with all kinds of problems such as drug addiction and mental problems. We have some 40 people who do this, including youth and displaced people.

 Displaced people who are struggling to survive themselves have little they can share, so it is a real gift to them for it enables them to help others. It has revived our youth group. We have expanded into a house in which we provide 100 meals every day to needy children through volunteers.  Whenever we need anything like chairs or tables, etc, it seems the Lord always provides. I see them as miracles. We bought a building and a business man is giving the gift of having it remodeled.” Jonathan Stucky is a CPTer on the Team and the grandson of the founder of the Mennonite Church of Colombia.  This is an inspiring a story of some of God’s present activity.

The reason that you have not heard from me is that I have been in some turmoil. A prayer for me as the dust settles in my life would be appreciated.

 Thanks be to God for all the lives that were helped by our presence in the last months.

 Peace,

Jim

 PS. Write a letter of support for the community of Garzal

Sample letter:
Queridas Comunidades de Garzal y Nueva Esperanza:

Mi nombre es ( your name ) y soy de ( Your city and state or province and country )

A través de los Equipos Cristianos de Acción por la Paz he conocido la situación de sus comunidades. Me parece muy valiente su lucha por sus tierras y por su vida campesina. Quisiera que sepan que sigo pendiente de su situación y me comprometo a seguir apoyándoles con oraciones u otras formas que nos podrían solicitar en el futuro.

Siempre en nuestras oraciones,

( Your Name ),

( Your Church or Organization )

We encourage you to add a sentence or two of your own to this letter, even if it is in English. You can also cut and paste this onto your church or organization’s letter head, or add a photo.

Your letter can be sent to the Colombia team via email or fax and we will deliver the letters to the community.

E-mail: cptco@cpt.org

Fax: 011-577-602-3617

 

Translation of the letter:
My name is _____________________ and I am from _______________________.

Through the work of Christian Peacemaker Teams I am aware of the situation of your community. Your struggle for your land and your rural lifestyle is valiant. I want you to know that I am following the situation and I am committed to support you through prayer and other actions that you may request in the future.

You are always in our prayers.
top

---

 
An Army Visit   3-28-08    Letter # 7 from Colombia

Dear Friend,

“There must have been 40 or 50 soldiers from the Colombian Army who came through here. They accused Jorge, my son, of being an informer for the guerrillas. I was so scared. They took his picture and asked him a lot of accusing questions. I was afraid to let him go fishing like he often does. They were all around the house. I was afraid that if there was a confrontation with the guerrillas, bullets might hit any one of my children.”

“They asked our first and last names and checked them, with lots of others from the community, against their list of supposed guerrilla sympathizers. We are not guerrilla sympathizers, but there is nothing we can do to convince them otherwise. They have guns, so I don’t argue with them. Someone must be singling us out. I was so scared that I called Pierre of CPT to let you all know about it. Then I was scared that they might be listening in on the call. Pierre said it is was ok and wondered why the army keeps using these fear and intimidation tactics that make the people more afraid and less supportive of the Army.” (This was a good thing for Pierre to say, as way of getting this advice to the government, as we actually do have pretty clear evidence that the Colombian government does listen to our calls.) We were thankful to be able to listen for about an hour to this discourse as Rosa shared her many fears.

Stu, the other CPTer with me, then gave Rosa one of our pamphlets with our phone numbers on it. And I gave them a pamphlet from the Red Cross that explained their rights and the fact that it was against international law for armed groups to be near people’s homes because it endangered the residents. Stu and I then told Rosa, “Show these to any of the armed groups that might come by and tell them to give us a call if they want to know who we are. If they know an international organization is paying attention to you, they might think twice before acting.” This could be a help for them, if it happens again. We hope it will help them feel a bit safer.

This is Rosa’s second marriage, as her first husband was killed by one of the armed groups a few years ago as he was riding his horse on their farm. This explains some of her fears. The family seems to have adjusted well in spite of this drama in their life. They milk 14 Brahma cows and make cheese to sell. Everyone in the family is very friendly, and I always enjoy visiting with them. For security reasons the names have been changed and I was unable to include a photo of the family.

Pray for Rosa and the other families for their safety and peace of mind.

On April 1, I fly to Chicago. The adjustment period usually is hard and it's easy to get depressed, so your prayers for me would be appreciated. Thanks much.

Peace,

Jim
top

---

Land Mines, Cocaine, and the Army    3-24-08    Letter #6 from Colombia

Dear Friend,
Land mines are one of our biggest problems here. You know how children are. You tell them to stay on the path, but it is so hard for them to realize the danger and obey. Just for them to go to help find some firewood or go to school, it is so dangerous. One was badly injured and we took him to the hospital in San Pablo, and they said they could not treat him there. Then we had to take him to Bucaramanga, all at our expense. There doesn't seem to be any help from the government," shared one of the farmers.

Delcy, from the Vice President's Office of Human Rights, answered, "If they cannot treat a person in San Pablo, they are responsible for transporting him to where he can be treated. I will have that looked into."

Another farmer shared, "The Army treats us like dirt. They have check points on the paths to our fields, and they stop us and accuse us of being guerrillas and detain us for hours at a time. They entice our children with candy and then try to pump them for information. Is that legal? Sometimes people just disappear and are never heard from again"

Delcy answered again, "I am sorry to say they can detain persons for 36 hours legally. If the Army is doing things illegally, write down exactly what it is and their battalion, names, rank, etc…and when and where as quickly as possible. Use your cell phones to call the Defensor, me, or any government agency you have access to, and we will contact who is in charge of the battalion to change whatever they are doing wrong."

Another farmer responded, "Many times they won't tell us what battalion they are part of, or they come without shirts that identify who they are. At times the illegal paramilitaries, the "Black Eagles," are part of the Army too. Last week when the army was manually pulling up coca plants, two homes were burned down. Things are horrible here."

Delcy responded. "Then just give us as much information as you can as soon as possible. The sooner you let us know, the more effectively we can use this to stop illegal things from happening and prevent more bad things."

"Another big problem here is the government spraying of our coca fields with extra strength Roundup (cocaine is made from coca leaves). Often they miss their mark, and we lose our food crops, or they hit the springs that are our water supplies, or our corrals of our cows or mules. And when they miss, the government says they will reimburse us for any damages, but they never do," shared another farmer.

The Defensor (the government agent for human rights) responded, " Get me the information as to when and where these mistakes happened, and I will inform the authorities whose job it is to investigate and pay you for the damages. If they don't do it in a timely manner, I will have the information and pressure for an investigation myself."

This was part of two meetings with various farm communities to share their plight with a commission. We were accompanying them as a way of providing the meetings and the commission with security. These are some of the various agencies which made up the commission: The Program for Peace and Development, The Organization of American States, the regional Mayor's Office, and several human rights and refugee agencies. Some thought perhaps 50 families would soon abandon their homes unless something changes.

The travel to these communities was a horrendous, dusty, three hour (one way) trip through creeks and over football sized rocks and holes and up and down mountains on the back of a small one ton truck. On the one trip the truck was so full that two fellows rode on top of the cab. I even developed an open sore from sitting on just a board as a seat. The one village was named Paradise; I felt we had to go through hell to get to Paradise. Despite the rough travel, I am thankful to be able to be supportive to these people. Thank you for your part in enabling me to do the trip. Wouldn't it be great if the million dollars a day we give in military aid to Colombia were used for roads instead?

Here is a link to some more pictures of this trip: http://www.plowcreek.org/paradise-photos.htm These pictures will really give you a good idea of the remoteness of the area and how these people live.

Pray for peace and security for Paradise and the other communities. Pray that the paramilitaries, guerrillas, and Army would see the light: that violence does not work.

Peace, Jim

top

---

Spreading Peace in Taxis    3/19/08   Letter #5 from Colombia

---